What If......

[roseproject]

If you’ve seen any of my previous posts, you probably know that I’m working on developing a Manga with many (both subtle, and not so subtle) Catholic themes.
I have a very specific idea of what the story’s setting is like and since no single place on earth completely meets this criteria, I decided I would start to create my own world (though I will make this world very similar to the real world).

So, here’s the thing: Well before deciding on creating a fictional world, I had my heart set on many of my main characters being Catholic, worshiping the One true God. But real religions are inevitably connected to real places…which is a bit of a problem of sorts '^^

After much thinking, I thought of one possible way of working around this. By answering this question: How might the salvation story have gone if there was no Jerusalem, different cultures, etc.? Would Jesus still be named ‘Jesus’? What about Mary?

I thought about the idea of simply creating “pseudo” versions of Jesus and Mary and create a pseudo Christianity around them but, when I went to draw the “Mary” character, I…just couldn’t do it '>.<

Also, the sacraments (especially the Eucharist and Confession) play a big part in the story’s plot. How can I work around that, I wonder?

It’ll take a lot of imagination but…(name removed by moderator)ut anyone?

Thanks in advance

 

[sl59]

Dear friend,

I think that your idea of writing a manga with Catholic themes is wonderful. About your difficulty, it seems to start from the fact that no place on earth seems suitable with the idea you want to develop.
However, if you create an alternative “world” you run into all the “what if” issues that you mention in your post. And in the end you would be writing about a “what if” Christianity that is not “true”.

My suggestion to you would be to do what many Japanese manga and anime authors (for example, Miyazaki) do for their stories: create a setting that, while based on our real earth, is somewhat imaginary, because it does not exist in that shape anywhere. Such as a very European-looking town in some un-mentioned country: it gives you the scenery you need for your story, but it doesn’t really portray any real town.

Good luck with your endeavor,

 

[roseproject]

My suggestion to you would be to do what many Japanese manga and anime authors (for example, Miyazaki) do for their stories: create a setting that, while based on our real earth, is somewhat imaginary, because it does not exist in that shape anywhere. Such as a very European-looking town in some un-mentioned country: it gives you the scenery you need for your story, but it doesn’t really portray any real town.

Come to think of it, in the movie “Castle in the Sky”, they make a brief mention of Sodom and Gomorrah of the Old Testament. They also make mention of part of a Hindu tale. It takes place in a fictitious country but with the mention of real things, it must take place on our planet (or at the very least, our universe). Hmmm…

 

[Zekariya]

Perhaps, instead of a fictional world, you could create a fictional country or location? Perhaps it could take place in a fictional future?